NBA=Nother Bungled Affair

Well a fine mess we have here concerning the NBA, The Lakers, Rockets and New Orleans Hornets. The league with no competitive balance has shown the follies of trying to prop up the “little guy”. I assume by NBA bylaws David the dictator Stern had the right to nix the mega 3 team deal that would have sent Chris Paul to Los Angeles since the league and thus the owners basically share in the ownership of the Hornets at this time. However looking at other sports and similar situations this nonsense didn’t happen.

Example #1

Bud Selig was basically running the Texas Rangers last year and allowed the Rangers to make deals to beef up their bullpen for the stretch drive and post season. Texas acquired reliever Mike Adams from the Padres and Koji Uehara from Baltimore before the deadline.

Example #2

The NHL ownes the Phoenix Coyotes but didn’t step in when that club made a few deadline deals to improve their playoff chances. Yet Stern at the behest of a few of his clubs again over steps his power by stopping the Paul deal. Couple of things in play here. By bending to the “small market” clubs like Cleveland, Stern has told teams they need to go through him to approve a trade that can make a good club better. Stern has also messed with the long term prospects of the Hornets viability in the crescent city.

While Paul would make the Lakers better no question the Hornets were due to get back a package of players from the Houston Rockets that would have made this deal palitable for the Hornets. The big losers in my view would have been the Rockets who in getting Pau Gasol would have dealt Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Lamar Odom and Goran Dragic. While none of those 4 have the superstar ability of Paul, collectivley they would have been good for New Orleans. Martin is a scorer. Scola is a hustler. Odom has many skills and Dragic while sometimes out of control can be a distributor. However the jealousy of Dan Gilbert and other small market owners nixxed the deal … By the way when did Cleveland become small market?

While this is a basketball issue there are life lessons here as well. You can only “prop up” the little guy so much before they have to walk on their own and survive on their own. It is totally unfair to penalize the wealthy and powerful to give handouts to the smaller. If these small market owners can’t compete well get out. Sell! Find a buyer who can make it work.

This also shows the follies of a salary cap. Caps don’t make for competitive balance. Skilled management and organizations make up for any deficit in market size. Just look at the San Antonio Spurs for proof of that or at 1 time the Sacramento Kings or Indiana Pacers to name 3. By making this blunder Stern and the jealous owners have hurt the Lakers and the Hornets and I guess the Rockets although I think they would have gotten the worst end of this trade.

What do you think — do you think that David Stern was right to call off this deal? Leave your comments below.

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